Monday, April 23, 2012

Volkswagen cars: from 13k to over 1 Lakh units per year in less than five years

The journey of Volkswagen cars began in 2007 and in less than five years, the groups cars have managed to sell 1.1 lakh units compared to around 13,000 cars it sold in the first year. The group includes Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT and Skoda cars in India. The growth is as high as whooping 54 percent in 2010-11. All credit goes to its cars such as Volkswagen Vento and Volkswagen Polo besides Skoda Fabia. However, VW still faces a strong competition with Maruti and Hyundai cars in India. The two being auto giants in India fetch the maximum number of car sales in India. Experts believe that the gap in the sales of Maruti, Hyundai and German brand VW is because of the absence of a small car in the mass segment. VW still refrains from putting a low priced car in India. However, there are plans that Volkswagen Up! and a small car Skoda Citigo will be launched in India soon targeting the mass segment.

As per media reports, Volkswagen managed to grow by 5 percent in 2011-12 even after there was overall slump in the auto industry. Notably, the group is heading fast to overcome other brands in India and the latest example is Audi putting Mercedes to the back seat and has become the second largest luxury car seller in India. The first is another German brand - BMW.

Recently, the German car giant Volkswagen has also left American brands Ford and GM behind. At one point of time Volkswagen Vento sales have surpassed Honda’s flagship car Honda City. However, Maruti and Hyundai cars still pose a major competition to Volkswagen cars in India. Premium hatchback Maruti Swift is a close rival Volkswagen Polo and where the earlier clicks around 20 k + monthly sales, the latter sales remain around 4000+ units per month.